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Japan to Set Up Radar on Disputed Islands
TOKYO (AP) - Japan said Monday it will set up weather radar on a pair of Pacific Ocean islands at the center of a territorial dispute with China. The Land and Transport Ministry will spend $3.08 million to install the radar in June atop an existing structure straddling the two rocky outposts that comprise the Okinotorishima islands. The radar will collect wave patterns and other meteorological data, but will also monitor ships within Japan's territorial waters, ministry official Toru Noda said.Japan claims the Okinotorishima outcroppings - heavily fortified by cement embankments - are islands that enable it to extend its exclusive economic zone far into the Pacific. China does not dispute Japan's territorial claim to Okinotorishima, about 1,070 miles southwest of Tokyo, but says they're only rocks - meaning Beijing is free to exploit the natural resources in some of the waters currently claimed by Japan. Under international law, an island is defined as a naturally formed land mass that stays above water during high tide, and can be used to determine the limits of a country's economic zone. Japan added cement embankments to prevent the already small islets' further erosion and sends workers there twice a year for maintenance. The radar will be installed during their next regular visit in June, Noda said. The outcroppings have triggered recent disputes between the two countries. Japan on Friday accused China of illegally conducting undersea surveys in its territory 22 times last year, including nine times near Okinotorishima. Tokyo has three telescopes on the islets to monitor Chinese ships in the area. A delegation of Japanese conservatives plans to visit the islets this week to study the possibility of building a lighthouse it hopes would strengthen Japan's foothold there. Tokyo's metropolitan government, which has jurisdiction over the islets, plans to begin fishing in nearby waters beginning in April. Its governor has proposed building a power plant there. Japan and China are also at odds over another group of southern small islands - called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China - in the rich fishing waters of the East China Sea. Posted by: Frank G 2005-03-28 |
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